Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

1

Meeting appointment and waiting behavior with mobile communications
Nobuaki OHMORI*
Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
Tel.: +81-3-5841-6232
Fax: +81-3-5841-8527
E-mail: nobuaki@ut.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Takayuki HIRANO
Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
Tel.: +81-3-5841-6235
Fax: +81-3-5841-8527
E-mail: takayuki@ut.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Noboru HARATA
Department of Urban Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
Tel.: +81-3-5841-6233
Fax: +81-3-5841-8527
E-mail: nhara@ut.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp*Corresponding author
Word count: 5,450 words, 6 tables, 2 figures, total 7,450 words
Submitted on August 1, 2005
Revised on November 21, 2005

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

2

Abstract. Information and communications technologies (ICT) have provided people with a lotof activity opportunities for communications in cyberspace. Mobile phones have made decisions
about activity scheduling more flexible and changed our travel behavior dramatically. Amongthem, meeting and waiting behavior could be one of the most dramatically changed behaviors
after the introduction of ICT. Mobile phones enable us to reschedule the appointment time andplace without space-time constraints. Especially young people use mobile communications veryfrequently and cleverly. The objectives of this study are to investigate young people’s decisions
about meeting and waiting behaviors, and to analyze dynamic rescheduling behavior by mobile
communications, in spatial and temporal dimensions. An on-site interviewing survey was
conducted in Shinjuku, Tokyo, in December, 2003. Information on telecommunications relating
to (re)scheduling the meeting time and place, and waiting behavior was obtained from 87 young
pairs. Purposes of telecommunicating by mobile phones were classified into five categories: formaking an appointment and deciding meeting time and place, rescheduling the meeting time,rescheduling the meeting place, informing of late arrival, and informing of the arrival andconfirming current location. About half of the first persons to arrive participated in some
activities not at the pre-decided meeting place but at other activity opportunities around themeeting place. The activity choice behavior of the first person while waiting was affected by thefrequency of visiting the town, whether considering the possible opportunities around themeeting place or not, and the length of the expected waiting time and the additional expectedwaiting time.

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

3

INTRODUCTION
In recent years, rapid development and diffusion of information and communications
technologies (ICT), such as mobile phones and the Internet, have provided people with a lot of
activity opportunities for communications in cyberspace. The use of ICT affects individual
activity-travel behavior and our lifestyles and activity-patterns have dramatically changed.
Mobile phones have made people’s scheduling decisions about activity-travel patterns more
flexible. Especially young people use mobile communications by mobile phones, e.g. voice calland e-mail, very frequently and cleverly. Among various behaviors, meeting and waiting
behavior could be among the most dramatically changed behaviors after the introduction of ICT.
Approximately 10 years ago, when mobile phones were not so disseminated as nowadays, people
had to decide beforehand the exact time and location when meeting outside, and it was difficult
to alter the time and location thereafter. The person who arrived first at the pre-decided meeting
place had to stay at the same location until the other person would show up. The first person toarrive was concerned about when the other was coming. The person being late was also
concerned that the first person would be anxiously waiting. However, now that we can use
mobile phones, the situation is completely different from that of 10 years ago. We need not
decide in advance the exact time and location for meeting, because we can communicate witheach other at anytime and anyplace, and, if needed, can reschedule the appointment time andplace by mobile communications. Also we need not stay at the pre-decided location and canspend time elsewhere (e.g. bookstore, café, etc.), making use of our time by participating in otheractivities until the other person arrives. What enables this flexible scheduling is “virtual
accessibility” provided by mobile phones and the Internet (1). On the other hand, from theviewpoint of designing urban space, how to evaluate the value of meeting space may have to bereconsidered, as the traditional meeting space may no longer be the actual space for waiting forpeople, but may have just become a common landmark or a temporary meeting spot.
In Japan, the number of subscription of mobile phones is 94 million and its penetration
rate to the population is 73% in November, 2004 (2). Japan has also been by far the largest
provider in the world of Internet connection services via mobile phones. About 80% of the total
number of subscribers to mobile phones are mobile Internet subscribers (including i-mode,
FOMA 3G, etc.), which is fairly high in comparison with other major countries and regions (2).
Tokyo has the richest railway network in the world and a lot of railway stations are very densely
located. Entrances and ticket gates of railway stations or spaces around the stations are very
popular meeting places. There are many activity opportunities such as cafés and shops, aroundthese stations, as well as within the station yards, where travelers can engage in activities.
Because people can make decisions on activity scheduling more dynamically, not only
revealed activity-travel patterns but also activity scheduling processes have been of interest totransportation researchers. Some researchers have been developing computer software working
on a PC or PDA for data collection of scheduling processes, e.g. CHASE (3), React! (4), Zhou
and Golledge (5) and Doherty and Papinski (6). On the other hand, activity scheduling is often
conducted by telecommunications. Among interactions between travel and telecommunications,which is substitution, complementation, modification and neutrality, proposed by Salomon (7),this activity scheduling by telecommunications could be related to modification. Recently,
activity and telecommunications diary surveys for one or multiple days have been conducted foranalyzing the effects of telecommunications on individual activity scheduling and travel patterns(8−10). These studies revealed that dynamic rescheduling is conducted by mobile
communications. However, how the use of mobile phones affected the meeting and waiting

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

4behavior has not been addressed in the previous research.
This paper investigates young people’s decisions about meeting and waiting behaviors,
and analyzes dynamic rescheduling behavior by mobile communications, in spatial and temporaldimensions. A case study is conducted in Tokyo, at or around JR (Japan Railway) Shinjuku
Station, where a lot of waiting places for meeting and opportunities for participating in a varietyof activities exist. In this study, “meeting” means that a person meets with another person outside
by making an appointment and two persons travel to the meeting place from different locations
separately. “The first person” means the person who arrived at the meeting place first. “Thesecond person” means the person who arrived at the meeting place second or later than theappointment time.
RESEARCH HYPOSESES ABOUT MEETING AND WAITING BEHAVIOR
Mobile phones alleviate space-time constraints on participating in activities in cyberspace, e.g.
acquiring information from websites and communicating with people. “Virtual accessibility” hasbeen a key concept for understanding the interaction between telecommunications, and humanactivity scheduling and travel behavior. Some researchers approach this issue from the conceptsof space-time path and space-time prism. Kwan (11, 12) represented an example of a space-time
path including telecommunications at different spatial scales using 3-D GIS environments.
Harvey and Macnab (13) discuss spatial and temporal constraints on communications system,
especially spatial and temporal coincidence. Dijst (14) also discusses constraints on the use of
ICT, based on Hägerstrand’s space-time constraints (15), and proposes “digital boxes” within
which individuals can use ICT under space-time and authority constraints. Janelle (16) represents
space-time opportunity costs of a telephone call and a business meeting in a space-time diagram.
There have been a lot of conceptual studies but empirical studies have not yet been conductedmuch.
In Japan, the most dominant purpose of telecommunications by mobile phones and also
secondly by e-mail is “making an appointment and communications for meeting with people”(17). The author conducted focus group interviewing surveys for 5 different socio-economicalgroups (a total of 30 individuals) in December, 2001, asking the participants about changes inmeeting behavior before and after using mobile phones and e-mail communications (18). The
followings are major changes for the participants:- need not decide the exact time and place for meeting,- be able to reschedule the appointment time and place just before meeting,- do not have to wait at the pre-decided place but can kill time at shops around the meeting
place, and- even when being late for the appointment time, both the person who arrives first and theperson who arrives late do not feel any stress because they are able to communicate witheach other at anytime and anyplace.
Moreover, in the survey questionnaires administered to people in their 20’s, preliminarily
conducted by the authors in 2003, it was discovered that the following factors were important for
decisions about meeting locations. (19):- Clarity: easy to find the partner; easy to understand the route to the meeting place- Accessibility: close from the station; close to the destination- Comfort: existence of activity opportunities/places for spending time around the meeting
place; few people- Familiarity: well-known to everybody

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

5-

Other: familiar to both persons; midpoint in-between the two persons’ current locations
Figure 1 shows an example of the difference in meeting and waiting behavior between
having and not having a mobile phone, representing “space-time path.” The left-side figure
shows the space-time path without mobile phones. Individual A called individual B by “landline
phone” at time t1 and they decided to meet at location X at time t2. A left home and arrived at X
just at t2 but B was late. After waiting for a few minutes, at time t3, A called B’s home from a“phone booth,” but B was already out of home and could not communicate with each other. B
arrived at X at t4. A was waiting for time (t4-t2). A had to wait for B at X being worried about
when B would arrive. A might have been so angry and they might not have been able to have agood time any more.
On the other hand, the right-side figure shows this behavior with mobile phones. In thesame way, A calls B at time t1 and they decide to meet at location X at time t2. A arrives at X at t2
but B is late. Immediately, A calls B by “mobile phone,” and says to B “Where are you? If you
are late, I will wait for you at shop Y, so come to see me there.” A arrives at time t5 at shop Y. B
arrives at Y at t6. Waiting time is (t6-t5) which is less than (t4-t2). As shown in this figure, now A
can wait for B at anyplace and A can spend the waiting time participating in such activities that A
likes while waiting for B. In the figure, bold lines in the time axis show “time windows” during
which they can communicate with each other. “Non-digital boxes” might exist according tospace-time and authority constraints, e.g. while being in trains between subway stations.
Both are feeling stress

Both do not feel any stress
time

time

Inform of the arrivaland confirm thecurrent location bymobile phone

t4
t6
t5
t2

t3
t2

t1

Inform of the latearrival andreschedule time andplace by mobile
phone

t1

A
X
Telecommunications

B spaceTime window for (tele)communications

A

X

Y

B space

Make decisions about meeting placeconsidering possibility of participating in
activities there and activity opportunities
around the place

Digital box
Non-digital box

FIGURE 1 Example of Difference in Waiting Behavior between with and without Mobile
PhonesTRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

6

As described above, people can reschedule the appointment time and place flexibly anddynamically by mobile communications. Space-time prisms also change dynamically depending
on changes in activity-schedules and people make decisions about space-time paths within thespace-time prism constraints. This is regarded as how people respond to the change of the prism
by telecommunications and what activities they will participate in, and where, to spend theunplanned additional waiting time. Meeting behavior could be one of the most interesting
subjects of dynamic rescheduling behavior by telecommunications and include many factors
affecting human decision making. To analyze this dynamic scheduling behavior with mobile
communications, the detailed information on both activity-travel patterns andtelecommunications is needed and an on-site interviewing survey could be most appropriate atpresent. Another possible waiting behavior could be waiting for a public transit at stations. There
have been several studies about this waiting behavior as well (e.g. 20, 21).
ON-SITE INTERVIEWING SURVEYIn December 19−21, 2003, Friday to Sunday, at 12:00−5:00 p.m., the authors conducted an onsite interviewing survey for young pairs (male and female, two females or two males) staying at
or walking around JR Shinjuku Station. Shinjuku Station has a total of 9 railway lines and thelargest number of passengers in Japan (more than 4 million passengers getting on and off at
Shinjuku Station per day). A lot of people who made an appointment to meet with someone are
waiting for their partners, in front of ticket gates, at famous meeting spots, etc. A pair ofinterviewers conducted an approx. 15-minute interview survey for each pair of respondents, inwhich a series of questions was structured and the answers were noted down. First theinterviewers asked them if they made an appointment of meeting at or around Shinjuku Stationand came to Shinjuku from different origins separately. The pairs coming to Shinjuku together
were not interviewed. The respondents were a total of 87 young pairs of people. Information wascollected regarding the time when making the first appointment to the time when the actual
meeting took place at Shinjuku. Using a kind of activity diary format, information on bothactivity-travel patterns and the contents, date and time of telecommunications including mobile
phones, and, if any, rescheduling of time and place by the telecommunications was also obtained
from the respondents. The interviewers also asked the respondents to check the past record of
telecommunicating time on their mobile phones to collect as accurate information as possible.
Table 1 summarizes information obtained from the survey. All the interviewed people traveled to
Shinjuku by train. If the interviewers interviewed people waiting at a specific meeting spot, it
could be easier to ask some questions of them. In this case, however, the interviewers could notknow all the activities until the final meeting with the partner and could not interview people
spending time not at the meeting spot but at other activity opportunities while waiting. That’s thereason why the authors selected people staying at or walking around Shinjuku Station as the
sample.
Basic characteristics of the respondents are described below. 83 of the 87 pairs were teensand people in their 20’s. 55% were male-female couples, and 36% were female-female pairs.
43% of the total pairs were both university students. The dominant relationships of the two
persons were friends (61%) and couples (36%). 90% of the 174 individuals visited Shinjuku
more than twice a month. 75% of the pairs met outside more than once a month.

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

7

TABLE 1 On-Site Interviewing Survey Description
Survey dates
Respondents

Information
obtained

12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., December 19 (Fri.) – 21 (Sun.), 2003
87 pairs staying at or walking around JR Shinjuku station
Socio-economic characteristics- age, sex, job, nearest station from the origin, frequency of visiting Shinjuku
Relationships of the pairs- relationship of two persons- frequency of meeting outside in daily life
- the two persons’ meeting experience in Shinjuku- the places at Shinjuku the two have met before, if any
Travel- departure time traveling to Shinjuku- name of the origin railway station- arrival time at Shinjuku- travel mode to Shinjuku
Meeting appointment and waiting behavior- date/time of making the first appointment- contents and date/time of telecommunications after the first appointment- activities while waiting for the partner*1- whether pre-planned to go to activity opportunities or not*2- whether the reason to go to activity opportunities is the partner’s late arrival or not*2- the final time and location the two met
Others- factors in decision about choosing the waiting location*3- whether the destination of where to go after the meeting was decided in advance or not*1: Questions only for the first arrival person.
*2: Questions only for the person who went to activity opportunities while waiting for thepartner*3: List among total 9 factors about clarity, accessibility, comfort, familiarity and other
THE USE OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN MEETING AND WAITING BEHAVIOR
Communications are necessary for deciding the time and place for the meeting, and especiallytelecommunications by mobile phones play an important part. An average frequency ofcommunications, including telecommunications and face-to-face conversations, directly relating
to scheduling of the meeting is 2.4 times, and most cases are 2 (38%) and 3 (36%). Only 15% did
no communications after the first appointment until the final meeting. Mobile communications(voice calls and e-mails by mobile phones) relating to the meeting is 95% of the total of 213
communications. These results suggest the importance of mobile communications in meeting
behavior.
Then, the authors classified the purposes of mobile communications relating to themeeting into five categories: (1) to decide the appointment time and place before leaving theorigin (home, workplace, etc.), (2) to decide or reschedule the appointment time after leaving theorigin, (3) to decide or reschedule the appointment place after leaving the origin, (4) to informthe partner of their late arrival, and (5) to inform the arrival and confirm the partner’s current
location. Table 2 summarizes the number of pairs doing each telecommunication.
(1) Decide the appointment time and place before leaving the origin: 76% of the pairs
decided both the appointment time and place before leaving the origin. The trend that the

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

8

appointment time was decided earlier than the place was observed, as the pairs who decided thetime 1 hour before the meeting was 67% of them, whereas only 43% of the pairs decided theplace 1 hour before the meeting. 38% of them decided the place by mobile communications after
both persons arrived at Shinjuku.
(2) Reschedule the appointment time after leaving the origin: 17% of the pairs
rescheduled the appointment time after leaving the origin. This includes cases in which one islate for the appointment time. 27% of the 17% communicated for rescheduling the appointment
time while both persons were traveling to Shinjuku. In this case, one of the pair was late for theappointment time, so the first person to arrive was required to spend additional time atintermediate stations or around the meeting place until the second person arrived at Shinjuku.
20% of the 17% rescheduled the time after the first person arrived at the meeting place. Also inthis case, the first person had to spend time until the second person arrived. The rest 53%
rescheduled the time, when either of the pair was at the origin and could continue to participate
in the activity at the origin.
(3) Reschedule the appointment place after leaving the origin: 11% of the pairs
rescheduled the appointment place (within the Shinjuku area). 60% of the rescheduling occurred
after the first person arrived at the meeting place, in which case the meeting place was changed
to the place where the first person was located at the time of the phone call or to a moreconvenient place for both of them (e.g. an intermediate place between the two persons). The time
when rescheduling the meeting place ranged from 20 minutes before the appointment time to 20
minutes after that.
(4) Inform the partner of the late arrival: 31% of the pairs communicated to inform thepartner of their late arrival (the late arrival with rescheduling time is included in category (2) and
not included in this category (4)). Although 30% of them informed of their late arrival more than
30 minutes before the appointment time, 41% informed of their late arrival after the appointment
time. 67% of the second person informed of the late arrival while traveling, whereas 41% of thefirst person was informed of the late arrival after arriving at the meeting place.
(5) Inform the arrival and confirm the partner’s current location: This communication
finalizes the meeting behavior. 43% of the pairs communicated to inform the partner of theirarrival. 49% of them were the case where the first person was spending time at activity
opportunities while waiting, when the second person informed of their arrival. On the other hand,
35% of them were the case where both people were at the meeting place but could not find thepartner, to confirm the partner’s current location.
Table 2 also shows the patterns of combination of the above-mentioned 5 categories. As
the most dominant pattern, 25% of the pairs decided the appointment time and place before
leaving the origin and did no telecommunications after that until meeting at Shinjuku. This could
have been a normal case for people without mobile phones about 10 years ago. The second
dominant pattern (18%) was that two persons decided both the time and place before leaving theorigin and the second person to arrive informed of the arrival at Shinjuku and confirmed theplace of the first person.

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

9

TABLE 2 Purposes and Patterns of Communications Relating to Meeting Behavior

Pattern

12
3
45Other 14patterns
Total

Decide theappointment
time andplace before
leaving theoriginRescheduletheappointment
time after
leaving theoriginRescheduletheappointment
place after
leaving theorigin

X
X
X
X

Inform thepartner of thelate arrival

Inform of thearrival andconfirm thepartner’scurrent
location

X
X
X

X

X

Number ofobservations

22 (25%)16 (18%)8 (9%)
6 (7%)
5 (6%)

(X)

(X)

(X)

(X)

(X)

30 (34%)66 (76%)15 (17%)10 (11%)27 (31%)37 (43%)87 (100%)

ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST PERSON’S WAITING BEHAVIOR
In this section, the first person’s waiting behavior until the second person arrives at the meeting
place is analyzed. The first person’s activities while waiting are classified into two types:
activities at the meeting place (talking, e-mailing and gaming by mobile phone, reading books,
smoking, etc.) and activities at other activity opportunities (i.e. participating in some activities atvarious shops, e.g. relaxing at cafés, window shopping at bookstores and fashion boutiques, etc.).
Table 3 shows the patterns of their waiting behavior. 47% of the first persons were staying at the
pre-decided meeting place from the arrival until the second person arrived there. Whereas, 51%of the first persons were spending the waiting time at other activity opportunities around themeeting place. Average “expected waiting time” is 26.0 minutes for the first persons spendingtime at activity opportunities and 10.3 minutes for the first persons staying at the meeting place(“expected waiting time” is described in detail in the next section).
The time of staying at the meeting place was zero minute for 34% of the first persons,
who met together on time, or met at the pre-decided or the rescheduled new meeting place, after
having been informed of the late arrival and spending time at other activity opportunities. For
them, the meeting place is not for “waiting” but just “meeting” for that particular moment.
Excluding the persons whose waiting time was zero, average time of staying at the meeting place
was 13.5 minutes for persons doing activities, 7.5 minutes for persons not doing any activities.
For all the interviewed pairs, the total travel time (on foot) which the first person spent forparticipating in some activities at activity opportunities was less than 10 minutes. Therefore, thefirst person spent the waiting time at relatively near activity opportunities from the meeting place.
If disutility for waiting for the partner could be alleviated by participating in some activities, theessential waiting time could be very short.
Table 4 shows the types of activity opportunities where the first persons spent time for
waiting. 33 of the total of 44 never pre-planned to go to the activity opportunities but went there
to kill the “waiting time.” Fashion boutiques and music/bookstores are frequently visited, butcafés are less frequently visited. At the former shops, window shopping is possible, whereas
paying some money is required for spending time at the latter shops. For killing a comparatively
short waiting time, people would be reluctant to paying money. Average time of staying islongest in cafés excluding a special case in amusement shops. The ratio of the average time ofstaying to the “expected waiting time” is very high. The results also show that the first person

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

10

spends time at activity opportunities very close to the meeting place and spends most of the
waiting time there.
When being informed of the late arrival at the origin or while traveling to Shinjuku, morethan half of the first persons did not go to the pre-decided waiting place but went to some activity
opportunities directly around there. Timing to know the partner’s late arrival could affect thesubsequent decisions, going to the meeting place or spending time at other activity opportunities.
When the first person to arrive knew the second person’s late arrival, time length which the first
person had to wait was extended. The increase mainly ranged from 10-25 minutes.
TABLE 3 Patterns of Waiting Behavior of the First Person to Arrive
Number ofobservations
41 (47%)2 ( 2%)
43 (49%)8 ( 9%)
3 ( 3%)
27 (31%)6 ( 7%)
44 (51%)87 (100%)

Patterns of waiting behavior
Staying at the meeting place
The meeting place → the new meeting place
Subtotal (Spending waiting time not at activity opportunities)
The meeting place → activity opportunities → the meeting place
The meeting place → activity opportunities → the new meeting place
Activity opportunities → the meeting place
Activity opportunities and meet there
Subtotal (Spending waiting time at activity opportunities)
Total

TABLE 4 Types of Activity Opportunities Visited while Waiting
Type of activity
opportunities

Number of thetotal visitors

Unplanned
visitors

Fashion boutiques
Music/bookstores
Convenience stores
CafésAppliance shops
Amusement shops
Others
Total

15
11
5
5
4
1
3
44

13
6
5
4
2
1
2
33

Averagestaying timeof theunplanned
visitors(minutes)
16.3
22.5
12.8
36.3
24.5
80.0
5.0
21.1

Expected
waiting timeof theunplanned
visitors(minutes)
19.5
29.2
15.0
46.3
30.0
90.0
10.0
26.0

Ratio of thestaying timeto theexpected
waiting time
84%
93%
85%
78%
82%
89%
50%
81%

ACTIVITY CHOICE MODELS WHILE WAITINGIn this section, activity choice behavior (spending time at activity opportunities or not) of thefirst person to arrive while waiting for the second person to arrive is modeled based on the
results in the previous sections. Since 11 of the first persons pre-planned to visit activity
opportunities, the choice behaviors of 76 of the first persons were modeled. This behavior isconsidered an activity choice under a space-time prism constraint constructed by the expectedwaiting time. Longer expected time, more available opportunities and information about
opportunities could induce additional activities at other activity opportunities than the meeting
place. The first persons are classified into three cases according to timing being informed of late

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

11

arrival:(a) without information about late arrival: 28 cases(b) being informed of the late arrival after arriving at the pre-decided meeting place: 12 cases(c) being informed of the late arrival before arriving at the pre-decided meeting place: 36 cases
In case (a), the first person normally expects that the partner will arrive on time and the expectedwaiting time is defined as duration between the appointment time and the arrived time. Whereas,
when the first person arrives after the appointment time, the expected waiting time is defined aszero. When the second person to arrive informs the first person of the late arrival, two cases are
considered. In case (b), the expected waiting time is defined as duration between the new
appointment time and the time being informed of the late arrival. On the other hand, in case (c),the expected waiting time is defined as the time between the new appointment time and thearrival time at Shinjuku. Based on the above-mentioned definitions, the expected waiting time isdefined as Table 5.
Table 5 Definition of the Expected Waiting Time(a) without information aboutlate arrival(b) being informed after arriving
at the pre-decided meeting place(if t1≤ t2)(c) being informed before
arriving at the pre-decided
meeting place (if t1> t2)

Total expectedwaiting time

The expected waitingtime without
information aboutlate arrival

The additional
expected waitingtime after being
informed of latearrival0 (if t3≤ t1)
t3- t1 (if t3> t1)

0 (if t3≤ t1)
t3- t1 (if t3> t1)

0

t4- t2t3- t2t4- t3t4- t1t3- t1t4- t3

t1: time the first person arrived at Shinjuku
t2: time the first person was informed of the late arrival by mobile phone
t3: pre-decided appointment time
t4: rescheduled new appointment time
(Total expected waiting time) = (The expected waiting time without information about latearrival) + (The additional expected waiting time after being informed of late arrival)
Pairs classified into case (b) are considered that they have made decisions twice: (1) when they
arrived at the pre-decided meeting place, (2) when they were informed of the late arrival bymobile phone. The independent variable “expected waiting time” is introduced as a space-timeprism vertex. Figure 2 represents dynamic changes of space-time prisms and potential
opportunities, according to the difference of timing of being informed of late arrival andrescheduling patterns of the new appointment time and place. Binary logit models are applied to
explaining choice behavior of staying at the meeting place or spending time at other activity
opportunities under space-time prism constraints.

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata
time

12
time

time

t4

t4

t3

t3

t3

t2

t2

t2

t1

t1

t1

S M
S M
space
space
space
Activity
Shinjuku Meeting place
opportunities station (S)(M)(a-1) Before informed of late(a-3) Only time is decided and place(a-2) Time and place is decided
arrivalis within a distance from the station(a) In case being informed of late arrival after arriving at the pre-decided meeting place (t1≤ t2)
time

time

time

t4

t4

t3

t3

t3

t1
t2

t1
t2

t1
t2

space
S M
(b-1) Before informed of latearrival

S

M

space

(b-2) Time and place is decided

S

M

space

(b-3) Only time is decided and place
is within a distance from the station(b) In case being informed of late arrival before arriving at the pre-decided meeting place (t1> t2)
Potential available activity opportunities in space-time
Space-time prism

FIGURE 2 Dynamic Changes of Space-Time Prisms and Potential Available Activity
Opportunities When Being Informed of Late Arrival by Mobile Communications
Table 6 shows model estimation results. The number of observations of decision making
was 88. In Model 1, the total expected waiting time was introduced as an independent variable.
In Model 2, the expected waiting time without information about the late arrival and the
additional waiting time after being informed of late arrival were introduced separately, and the
additional waiting time was introduced to each pair according to the timing of being informed of

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

13

the late arrival. Parameters with a positive sign show an increase in utility of activities
participated in activity opportunities around the meeting place. In both models, the parameter“frequency visiting Shinjuku” is significant and shows a positive sign. This means persons who
visit more frequently Shinjuku spend time at some activity opportunities more while waiting.
Persons more frequently visiting Shinjuku could have more information on activity opportunities
in Shinjuku. If so, this behavior relates to the amount of information on activity opportunities
around the pre-decided meeting place. The parameter “Meeting place evaluation” is alsosignificant and shows a positive sign, which means persons who consider the existence ofopportunities around the meeting place when deciding the meeting place spend time at activity
opportunities more. In Model 1, the “total expected waiting time” is a significant variable. The
longer total expected time induces more visiting activity opportunities. In Model 2, the parameter“the expected waiting time without information about late arrival” is significant. When not being
informed of late arrival, persons who have the longer expected waiting time visits otheropportunities more. As for “the additional waiting time after being informed of late arrival,”
when being informed before arriving at the pre-decided meeting place, the longer additional
waiting time promotes the first person’s activities at other opportunities. Since the value of theparameter of the additional time is larger than that of the expected waiting time without
information about late arrival, the additional time induced by information of the late arrival has
more impact on activity choice behavior while waiting. However, after arriving at the predecided meeting place, the additional waiting time does not have significant effects.
TABLE 6 Model Estimation Results
Explanatory variables
Sex (1:male, 0:female)
Frequency visiting Shinjuku (1:more than twice a week,
0:others)
Meeting place evaluation (1:considering existence ofopportunities around the meeting place, 0:others)
Destination constraint (1:destinations was pre-planned,
0:others)
Total expected waiting time (minutes)
The expected waiting time without information about latearrival (minutes)
The additional expected waiting time by being informed oflate arrival after arriving at the pre-decided meeting place(minutes)
The additional expected waiting time by being informed oflate arrival before arriving at the pre-decided meeting place(minutes)
Constant (1: for spending time at activity opportunities)
Number of observations
Log likelihood at zeroLog likelihood at convergenceρ2 corrected for the number of the parameters

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Model 1Model 2coefficientt-statisticcoefficientt-statistic-0.722-1.059-0.770-1.092

1.681

2.458

1.815

2.502

1.660

2.158

1.796

2.305

-1.003-1.524-0.866-1.257

0.143

3.954
0.127

3.235

0.093

1.785

0.190

3.460

-2.894-3.56788-60.997-33.346
0.355-3.029-3.57588-60.997-32.134
0.342

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

14

CONCLUSIONSIn this paper, young people’s meeting appointment and waiting behavior with mobile
communications was investigated using information from an on-site interviewing survey around
one of the largest railway stations in Tokyo. Mobile phones have provided the options ofrescheduling the meeting time and place after leaving the origin. Purposes of telecommunicatingby mobile phones were classified into five categories: for making an appointment and deciding
meeting time and place, rescheduling the meeting time, rescheduling the meeting place,
informing of late arrival, and informing of the arrival and confirming current location. About halfof the first persons to arrive participated in some activities not at the pre-decided meeting place
but at other activity opportunities, such as cafés, bookstores and fashion boutiques around themeeting place. The activity opportunities where the first persons spent the waiting time wereclose to the meeting place and the ratio of the staying time to the expected waiting time was veryhigh. The activity choice behavior of the first person while waiting was affected by the frequencyof visiting the town, whether considering the possible opportunities around the meeting place ornot, and the length of the expected waiting time. The impact of the length of the additional
expected waiting time by being informed of late arrival before arriving at the pre-decided
meeting place was larger than that of the time without information about the late arrival.
Meeting behavior is one of the most dynamic rescheduling behaviors by mobile
communications. The results of this empirical study suggest that evaluation methods of meeting
spaces should be reconsidered. Available activity opportunities around the meeting place are
more important than environment of the meeting place itself, because, for many people, ameeting place is not for “waiting” but just “meeting.”
This study proposes analyzing waiting behavior under dynamic changes in space-timeprism constraints by mobile communications, but does not consider the location and opening
hours of each activity opportunity in detail. More detailed analysis explicitly considering “spacetime accessibility” measures (22, 23) to available activity opportunities is an issue for future
research. For getting information from more respondents, survey methods should bereconsidered. Studies in local cities, where railway stations are not a major meeting place, thenumber of opportunities is smaller and a main travel mode is not train but car, could provide
interesting results and more implications to researchers. Analyzing how participating in activities
while waiting for people can mitigate the disutility of waiting time, e.g. irritation level (20),could be important for evaluating a meeting place. Also analyzing relationships between
information on activity opportunities available at websites by mobile phones and waiting
behavior could be important.

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

15

REFERENCES
1. Golob, T. F. Travel Behavior.Com: Activity Approaches to Modeling the Effects ofInformation Technology on Personal Travel Behavior, In: Hensher, D. A. (ed.), Travel
Behaviour Research: The Leading Edge, Pergamon, Oxford, 2001, pp.145-183.
2. Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, Japan.
Information and Communications in Japan: White Paper 2004, 2004.
3. Doherty, S.T. and E.J. Miller: A Computerized Household Activity Scheduling Survey,
Transportation, Vol.27, 2000, pp.75-97.
4. Lee, M. and M. McNally. Experiments with a Computerized Self-Administered Activity
Survey, Transportation Research Record 1752, 2001, pp.91-99.
5. Zhou, J. and R. Golledge. Real-Time Tracking of Activity Scheduling/Schedule Execution
within Unified Data Collection Framework, TRB 2004 Annual Meeting CD-ROM, 2004.
6. Salomon, I. Telecommunications and Travel: Substitution or Modified Mobility?, Journal ofTransport Economics and Policy, Vol.19, No.3, 1985, pp.219-235.
7. Doherty, S. T. and D. Papinski. Is It Possible to Automatically Trace Activity Scheduling
Decisions?, paper presented at Conference on Progress in Activity-Based Analysis,
Maastricht, the Netherlands, May 2004.
8. Senbil, M. and R. Kitamura. The Use of Telecommunications Devices and Individual
Activities Relationships, TRB 82nd Annual Meeting CD-ROM, 2003.
9. Nishii, K., K. Sasaki, R. Kitamura and K. Kondo. Recent Developments in Activity DiaryBased Surveys and Analysis: Some Japanese Case Studies, In: Timmermans, H. (ed.),
Progress in Activity-Based Analysis, Elsevier, Oxford, 2005, pp.335-354.
10. Ohmori, N., Y. Muromachi, N. Harata and K. Ohta. The Effects of Using
Telecommunications on Individual Activity Schedule, Infrastructure Planning Review,Vol.18, No.4, 2001, pp.587-594. (in Japanese)
11. Kwan, M.-P. GIS Methods in Time-Geographic Research: Geocomputation andGeovisualization of Human Activity Patterns, Geografiska Annaler, Vol.86B, No.4, 2004,
pp.267-280.
12. Kwan, M.-P. Human Extensibility and Individual Hybrid-Accessibility in Space-time: A
Multi-Scale Representation Using GIS, In: Janelle, D.G. and D.C. Hodge (eds.), Information,
Place, and Cyberspace: Issues in Accessibility, Springer, Berlin, 2000, pp.241-256.
13. Harvey, A.S. and P.A. Macnab. Who’s Up? Global Interpersonal Temporal Accessibility, In:
Janelle, D.G. and D.C. Hodge (eds.), Information, Place, and Cyberspace: Issues inAccessibility, Springer, Berlin, 2000, pp.147-170.
14. Dijst, M. ICTs and Accessibility: An Action Space Perspective on the Impact of New
Information and Communication Technologies, In: Beuthe, M., V. Himanen and A. Reggiani(eds.), Travel Demand and Organization in an Evolving World, Springer, Berlin, 2004, pp.2746.
15. Hägerstrand, T. What about People in Regional Science?, Papers of the Regional Science
Association, Vol.24, 1970, pp.7-21.
16. Janelle, D.G. Impact of Information Technologies, In: Hanson, S. and G. Giuliano (eds.), The
Geography of Urban Transportation, 3rd ed., Guilford Press, New York, 2004, pp.86-112.
17. Institute of Socio-Information and Communication Studies, The University of Tokyo.
Information Behavior 2000 in Japan, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 2001.
18. Ohmori, N. Change of Travel Behavior after Introduction of ICT–Results from Focus GroupInterviews–, Proceedings of Infrastructure Planning, Vol.27, 2003, CD-ROM. (in Japanese)

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata

16

19. Hirano, T., N. Ohmori and N. Harata. Choice of Meeting Spots around a Station, Proceedingsof Infrastructure Planning, Vol.28, 2003, CD-ROM. (in Japanese)
20. Ohmori, N., T. Hirano and N. Harata. Passengers’ Waiting Behavior at Bus Stop, Traffic andTransportation Studies: Proceedings of ICTTS 2004, 2004, pp.157-164.
21. Hess, D.B., J. Brown and D. Shoup. Waiting for the Bus, TRB 2003 Annual Meeting CDROM, 2003.
22. Kwan, M.-P. Space-Time and Integral Measures of Individual Accessibility: A Comparative
Analysis Using a Point-Based Framework, Geographical Analysis, Vol.30, 1998, pp.191-216.
23. Miller, H.J. Measuring Space-time Accessibility Benefits within Transportation Networks:
Basic Theory and Computational Procedures, Geographical Analysis, Vol.31, 1999, pp.187212.

TRB 2006 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.